


Of fragile hearts and magic scars

by Kynareth (RiverBlack)



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Dark Magic, F/F, F/M, M/M, Negan - Freeform, Paganism, Paul likes his men with issues, Slow Burn, Veeeeery slow burn, Witchcraft, lotsa rituals, magic here is not sparkles and wands it's dark and based on sacrifice, praying to pagan gods, so slow that even Kronos is impressed, some witches just want the world to die already
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-10-22 15:27:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10699827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiverBlack/pseuds/Kynareth
Summary: For someone whose nickname is Jesus, Paul Rovia could not be further from christian beliefs. Grown up in a pagan household, exposed to witchcraft and rituals in his early years, Paul promised himself to not turn into those witches who go blinded by their own power. Now, with the End of Times breaking apart his world he has devoted his energy to help people of Hilltop - however long they'd get to live.





	Of fragile hearts and magic scars

**Author's Note:**

> This starts with Jesus and Daryl leaving the sanctuary and then plot changes for the worst (or better :) )

Paul could feel the wind tickling his skin and dancing in his hair as he and Daryl rode the motorcycle in the direction of Hilltop. He carefully held onto the redneck's sides, in case he's been hurt.  
And Paul knew he'd been hurt.  
It was something in his eyes, something in his whole posture that told Paul just how violated and humiliated Daryl felt. The scout could only imagine what the Saviors had done to the archer, and in all of his honesty, Paul decided not to dwell on that.  
He could see the appeal of riding a motorcycle. Even while not actually controlling the bike, Paul felt the freedom and slight separation from the reality. Instead of Daryl, the Saviors, the whole upcoming war and the damned apocalypse, Paul's mind began to wonder to the past. He couldn't tell whether pre-apocalypse was simpler times to him.  
He was born into a rich family, that much was for certain. Paul was the only child and if you'd think that would make the parents focus their love and devotion solely on him, you had another thing coming. It'd be wrong to say that Paul was not loved by his parents, however love was something that they mostly gave towards a what, not a who.  
Magic.  
Paul didn't remember the first time he saw his mother draw sigils on walls or his father reciting an incantation in an archaic language. However, he did remember the first time his father explained what magic was.  
It's a tool that is so dangerous that it shouldn't be used. But his family had greek ties and they used them to draw power from the greek gods. So they used it anyway.  
Up until he was of age to go to school, Paul thought every family had magic, gods to ask favors of in return of sacrifice, and old spellbooks lying in their library. That might be because he only knew his parents' friends and their children, who had been part of the same coven.  
So when Paul attended school for the first time, a 'cold shower' is what he got after making acquaintances. No one told him that is was a family secret and no one certainly informed him that witty latin phrases are not appreciated by the public.  
Not long after, Paul's parents had him removed from that school and started homeschooling him. It certainly did not help him make friends faster.  
Soon, he got enrolled into a private school and this time Paul learned to keep his mouth shut. Soon, he started dating, and after a year and a half of seeing his boyfriend, Paul thought he'd share his family secret.  
Another cold shower.  
Being called a freak by strangers is something Paul could brush off with ease. His mother always told him that the worst of witches are better than the best of them. Only his boyfriend did not fill into the 'them' category.  
He'd been brokenhearted, humiliated and angry. He wasn't thinking when he lit a candle, drew the sigil for relief, his tears and blood mixing on the altar, while praying to Aphrodite to mend his broken heart. Paul was not sure why he was surprised when his ex fell sick a few days later. He died within a month.  
That was the first time Paul got burned by the gods.  
He was angry at them, he was angry at himself for being so foolish, and he was the most angry at his parents who just shrugged and acted confused as to why he was so ungrateful. The deities powered your spell, it worked fast, the one who hurt you is gone, why are you complaining?  
From his anger and disappointment came his rebellious stage. Sure his family was rich and they had no problem allowing him to waste money, but Paul started getting blinded by the rush of theft. Favoring Hermes, whose random bursts of opportunities came and went, it was not long before Paul went too far and got himself thrown in jail. Once again he felt angry and betrayed, because the god would not help and respond after Paul got caught.  
After feeling alone and abandoned by everyone he knew, he wished them all to go to hell and moved out of his home as far away as possible to start fresh. Weeks turned to years of working shitty jobs and barely scraping by. By his early thirties, his loneliness had not been diminished by cheap alcohol, sex and cigarettes. Then the weird news on TV started. At first it started to sound like a shitty necromancy spell gone wrong, and so Paul risked his fragile state of mind to call some of his old friends. Even witches could not explain what was happening, so Paul could not keep himself at bay and finally came back home. When he entered the house where he grew up, the stench of death filled his senses and made his eyes water.  
Gods and magic did not help the Rovias yet again. They let their son put a knife through their heads.  
And still, Paul gathered some of the most valuable books and diaries from his parents' library and put them into a chest-like trunk. After putting his stuff and the box into the trunk of his car, he wondered why he bothered.  
Maybe because it's the only legacy the Rovias had.  
After leaving his home behind him he drove and drove and drove. Weeks and weeks of searching and hoping lead him to a hedge witch in the woods. She called herself Nina and seemed in her mid-twenties. Paul knew better than to assume a witch's age based on her appearance.  
Nina told him what this End of Times brought the witch community. Witches were torn between the ones who believed they could find the cause of the apocalypse and end it, and those who supported it and relished in the chaos it brought.  
Where were the deities now?  
Paul appreciated Nina's help and moved on. Days of roaming he found a walled sanctuary called Hilltop.  
The witch knew they were weak, knew they wouldn't last long, but he decided to help them anyway. Days turned to years of Hilltop's prosperity, but then the big bad wolf started knocking on the gates.  
Negan and his damned Saviors.  
Paul was tempted to open his trunk and take out his spellbooks, he really was.  
But he was through being humiliated by the deities and spirits and all the energetic sons-of-bitches that powered his family's spells.  
Still, it felt like a blessing from Hermes, when he tried to steal a truck from two men that looked like a rough house sheriff and a silent hunter.  
And now, all his choices and magic lead to this moment, Paul holding onto the hunter that is invaluable to their communities' survival.  
He could see Hilltop's walls in the distance.  
"We're almost there, hippie."  
It was going to be okay.


End file.
